


Artificial Fates

by VocaloidGroup



Category: Final Fantasy VIII, Sword Art Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5028277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VocaloidGroup/pseuds/VocaloidGroup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garden commissions Akihiko to create a virtual training program for them, and Squall is chosen as the tester. The day before Seed exams, Squall logs into SAO's launch and gets more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Artificial Fates

Akihiko stared at the e-mail he had received three hours, thirty-seven minutes and fifty-eight seconds ago and still had no answer to the deal proposed by Garden. The organization was offering him 2.5 billion dollars to finance his dream, Sword Art Online. In exchange however, his game would need to be tweaked and modified to Garden's standards. The illustrious organization had decided that keeping live monsters in the facility for training was both too expensive and dangerous. The idea of a virtual training faculty was more beneficial. Injuries would not be real, but battle experience could be learned. Students could also train without the need of constant supervision. When Akihiko's device, the Nervegear, was announced, they had contacted him almost immediately with their proposal. After months of tedious negotiations and testing the most recent proposal sat before him. In exchange for 2.5 billion dollars, he would create a virtual testing facility for them, including a wide variety of monsters and weapons suitable for SEED and cadets alike. There was more, but that is what the contract boiled down to.

Akihiko sighed and leaned back further into his chair. Honestly, he didn't need the money. The reminder of the programming would be completed in a month and the beta would be opened soon after. If all worked out as planned he would be in a bit of debt…but if all went as planned it wouldn't matter. He wearily looked at the e-mail again. On the other hand, this opportunity could open so many things to him. More money would help extend the programming time and thus creating a better game. Extra monsters, more events, and more complex environments were the tip of the iceberg. Akihiko rubbed his temples one last time before moving to his computer and typing a response. Beta testing could wait, if he would be trapped with 10,000 people in a false reality, he would make it the best that he could.

-Ω-

Squall sat in the Garden mess hall and watched as another commercial for Sword Art Online played on the television. The game itself was urging people to sign up for the beta test and be one of the lucky few to win. If he were to be honest with himself he would have been interested in getting a copy if he had time. The key part was that he had no time to spare. Garden training and classes took up a majority of his day. The remainder of his day was filled with homework and missions. Squall's musings were interrupted when he was called over the P.A. system.

"Squall Leonheart to the headmaster's office immediately." The normal chatter died down almost instantly, all gazes turning to the loner. The only time students were called to the headmaster's office was either the promotion to Seed, reporting the results of on an A class or higher mission or being expelled. Seeing as Squall was still a student and could not accept A class missions and had gotten into an extremely fierce, and mildly illegal, fight with Seifer last week this meeting was probably not going to be a good one. Even so, Squall stood and left, listening to the whispers of his fellow students.

The wait outside Cid's office was excruciating. Why couldn't they just tell him he was expelled? Why the build up? Why wasn't Seifer here too, wasn't he mostly to blame? Questions flooded Squall's mind, but on the outside he remained calm and uncaring. As if to answer his silent wishes the door swung open revealing Headmaster Cid, his instructor, Quistis Trepe, and another man he did not know carrying a suitcase.

"Good afternoon Squall," Quistis greeted, "How are you feeling?" Odd start to what was probably his expulsion. Nevertheless he responded.

"I am fine instructor; may I ask why I have been called?" The headmaster cleared his throat drawing all eyes to him.

"Have you heard of the newest virtual simulation called Sword Art Online?" Squall nodded. "Good, we believe that a virtual training area would be more cost efficient and safer to our current facilities. We have contacted the head of the project," here Cid gestured to the man, "about creating such a facility for us."

"What does this have to do with me?" Squall questioned.

"We want you to be our test subject," Quistis broke in. At Squall's questioning expression she elaborated. "While you are known to be a loner, you excel in most if not all combat scenarios. We need someone who excels in combat situations to test the limits of the programming to give Akihiko the data he needs."

At this the man spoke up. "Basically what I need is somewhat like an aptitude test. I need to know the speed of processing for the training program I am creating. Too slow and the users will feel lag, too fast and Garden will be paying more money than necessary."

"How will you collect the data?" In response to Squall's question, Akihiko opened the suitcase he had with him. The contents included a nerve gear and a flash drive.

"You will play the game of course." Akihiko responded handing him the Nervegear. "It is still in its beta, but Sword Art Online is the base I am using to create your program. I will collect data from your movements in SAO and I will tweak the program to fix the specs that Garden needs."

"And my weapon? Last I checked gunblades were not a usable item in your game." Squall pressed.

"I have it right here." Akihiko held up the flash drive. "This is something I created 3-4 hours ago, but it should function fine. Sorry if it is not what you are used to" Akihiko sent a look at Cid. "I was not told I had to create a new weapon for the testee until 4 hours prior to my arrival. All I had was a picture of the weapon, but I am happy how it turned out. All we need to do is insert the flash drive into the Nervegear before start up and the gunblade option will be available."

"We can talk on the way to the lab." Quistis broke in. "Let's go." As they walked to the testing chamber Akihiko explained what he could about the system to Squall. Squall learned about the basics, sword skills, and so on. Soon they arrived at the testing lab and the testing began.

"Alright first you need to calibrate the Nervegear to yourself… Next plug in the flash drive…Now make an account… A default character is fine…I am going to connect your helmet to the tools we need." Squall waited and finally he was able to log in.

"Link start." Immediately a multitude of lights obscured his vison and he felt as if he was falling into the system itself. Touch, Hearing, Taste, all five of his senses were checked and the connection was made. His account data and language were placed in. Then another window popped up.

Extra data: detected. Allow change to system? Y/N

Squall quickly hit the yes only for another message to come up.

Extra data: will cause permeant change to character. Is this ok? Y/N

Squall hesitated for a second before allowing it to run. It hardly mattered; he was only testing the system.

Squall opened his eyes to a field. Before he could gather his bearings a video screen appeared before him.

"How do you feel?" Akihiko's asked via the screen before him. "Tell me if you feel lagged or uncomfortable." Squall moved and to his surprise it felt natural.

"I feel fine, no lag whatsoever." He reported. Akihiko nodded and typed into the laptop on the side.

"Now check out your weapon, is it up to standards?" Squall reached for his belt only to grab air. He looked down curiously only to realize he felt weight on his back. Squall was about to complain but sighed instead.

"Whatever." He muttered and grabbed the weapon from his back. The revolver gun blade shone like it was newly polished and he gave a few practice swings. To his annoyance the blade was heavier than normal and it felt like he was swinging through mud with every stroke.

"The blade feels heavy and my speed lowers when I swing." Akihiko nodded and quickly typed more things into his laptop. He then moved to another computer and began typing more things. "Try it now," Akihiko's called and Squall swung again. He was happy to feel the blade was lighter and the swing was uninhibited.

"Much better," Squall reported swinging the blade a few more times.

"Alright open your menu and go to your skill tree." Squall did so and was shocked at what he saw. Instead of a wide array of weapons, each with its own skill branch, there was only the gun blade branch. Akihiko spoke up likely seeing Squall's expression. "The gun blade data operates on a different set of algorithms. Therefore you can only learn gun blade sword skills."

Squall shook himself out of his stupor. It wasn't like he needed other weapons, so it really didn't matter. As long as the gun blade could be upgraded to match his real life one he wouldn't complain. It was then Akihiko dropped the bomb.

"Because this is completely different coding from the game the sword cannot be upgraded, but it will not lose durability. If you ever wanted to play this game I would recommend not having the gun blade." Akihiko warned. "I am going to spawn in a basic enemy, defeat it so I can gather some combat data."

A boar flashed into existence. Squall sized up the target before charging forward. The first slice cut deep leaving a red gash on the animal. It screeched, but had no time as Squall followed through with a second slash. The boar's health bar dropped to yellow and Squall jumped back to avoid the animal's thrashing.

"Well done." Akihiko called from the screen. "Try the trigger next, I hope you like what you see." Squall nodded and shot forward to meet the boar as it charged at Squall. The gun blade flashed as it sliced through the air and blocked the boar's charge. Squall quickly knocked back the boar, stunning it. Squall held the blade above him as slashed downward pulling the trigger as he did so. Instead of the normal reaction of a vibrating blade, a gunshot erupted from the sword sending the poor creature a full ten meters back before it came to a stop and exploded into blue data.

To be fair Squall hid his surprise well, but his eye twitched slightly at what he had seen. Akihiko was already talking unaware of how strange the occurrence was.

"Because I had limited time, I was unable to understand how the gun blade works, but I was happy about the final result. I couldn't figure out where the bullet was fired from so I worked around it by simply programming a barrel for it, even though there is not one present." Akihiko would have continued on, but Quistis broke in.

"The gun blade does not fire bullets." The single statement effectively caused Akihiko to freeze mid-lecture.

"E-excuse me?" Honest confusion was written across the poor man's face as Quistis explained how a gun blade worked and the functions behind it.

"Log out, it seems I have a few modifications to make. We can gather the data on a later date."

And just like that, the first day of Squall's SAO experience came to an end.

-Ω-

With the new money that Garden had provided to Akihiko, the beta period had been extended and the number of games as well as Nervegears had increased to 50,000. With the extra money, Akihiko had been able to fund more Nervegears and the like increasing the potential amount of players. With the increased amount of helmets and extension of the beta, Akihiko was busy. That being said, the meetings with Akihiko were short and infrequent. This however did not mean that Squall was given a break. He was sent in daily to gather combat data. This however proved difficult because without Akihiko the only way to report any problems or results was to log out, make the report, and then log back in. This was solved by Akihiko who developed a kind of communication between Squall and the real world. When the gun blade was equipped Squall had an automatic friend in his contact list simply named HQ. With it he could contact Garden headquarters and vice versa through messages. This helped streamline the data gathering process.

Speaking of the gun blade program, it had advanced as well. The sword's skill tree had evolved including several different maneuvers that Squall had learned in real life. Akihiko had also made sure to modify the gun blade so it functioned correctly. That being said, it still retained the ability to fire bullets. In Akihiko's words, 'remaking the entire program would have been too much work. I made the vibration aspect a sub-section within the gun blades attacks.' In less technical terms, it meant Squall could switch between firing bullets and making the blade vibrate. Another unique feature drew Squall's attention though. Akihiko had decided to give him the ability to create bullets or 'ammo refine.' While the gun blade could not fire bullets it did need an explosion to make the blade vibrate. These 'vibration bullets were not built into the game thus Akihiko created the method to obtain them. However, bullets were not the easiest to make. Like smithing, the ammo created depended on the item used in refining. Akihiko had hinted that he had created a wide variety of ammo for the gun blade, but refused to elaborate on the subject. When Squall had pressed him for answers, he simply laughed and told him to find out for himself what ammo could be made. Unfortunately, the process was slow. A simple boar's tusk was not even enough to make a normal round; at least 15 tusks were required.

There were rare times however that Squall enjoyed the game for what it was. After testing was over for the day and he had no other pressing matters he was allowed to explore the world of SAO. He stayed to himself of course, never revealing his weapon to strangers. He explored the floors the beta testers had unlocked and did quests. It was a nice way to pass the time. There was neither threat of actual monsters nor the pressing matter of survival like in his real work. He could see why so many were drawn to the game. In the end though, this was only a test for the real faculty. Squall would eventually log off and face reality. He was not saddened by this fact, but it was slightly disappointing. Sooner or later, the Seed exams would come up and his gaming would come to an end.

-Ω-

Five months after Squall first experienced SAO, the beta finally was complete and the game was set to open at 1:00pm. Squall sat on his bed and stared at the infamous game. Akihiko had left the copy there saying if anyone wanted to play SAO, they could. In the end, no one used the game, everyone was busy setting up and training for the Seed exams. However, Squall had the day off as Seed finals were tomorrow. He was told to rest up for the tests, but this left Squall feeling uncomfortable with pent-up energy and nerves ruining any chance of sleep. The leftover game therefore was a godsend. He could get rid of the excess energy and train without causing any real exhaustion to his body. He would log on for a few hours and fight in the plains close to the starting city. After that log out, eat a quick meal, and rest for the early exam starting the next day.

The only problem with Squall's plan was that he would favor training with a gun blade over a simple sword. Akihiko had said deliberately not to use the program in the actual version as it could corrupt his character data. Thus the dilemma, ignore the warning for a few hours of training or heed the warning and die of boredom and nerves for the rest of the day. Squall stood from the bed and left for the lab. The choice was not the most difficult one. After Squall became Seed he wouldn't have the time to play the game anyway. The consequences were minimal. After informing Quistis that he would be using the Nerve gear (and getting a lecture about what rest meant), Squall was setting up the system in the few minutes before the launch of SAO when a voice interrupted him.

Don't log in

Squall immediately sent a cursory glance around the room, but saw no one. He again returned to the set up, but was again interrupted by the voice, this time more urgent.

Don't Log in!

Another look around the room and into the hall revealed nothing. Deciding his nerves were finally starting to get to him, Squall finished his set-up and plugged the flash drive into the helmet. He watched as time ticked away and when the desired time came around he logged in.

When Squall first opened his eyes he was surrounded by leagues of players. The town of beginnings was apparently modified to be to be larger as the amount of players had increased. Squall reached for his back in a practiced motion and drew his gun blade. He gave in a once over as it gleamed in the sunlight.

"Whoa look at that sword!"

"Is that an event item?"

"I thought guns weren't in the game."

Squall looked around at the crowd that had begun to form around him. Inwardly cursing his luck, he broke away from the crowd avoiding the players running after him. Once he had dodged his followers, Squall made his way to a nearby shop. With the limited col given to him, he bought a brown cloak. Nothing fancy, but enough to hide his face; no need for more people recognizing him. Soon he made his way to the field and as in the beta, the boars roamed freely. Squall suppressed a smile; he had 4 hours till dinner. How many could he kill? He raised his sword and pulled the trigger only to be disappointed by the click of an empty barrel. He had grown used to having unlimited ammo, now that the game had begun he had to farm it. With that he took to the fields killing the boars at an immense rate.

-Ω-

Kirito stared in horror at Klein, whose face had completely changed. His face as well had changed and as more and more horrified screams echoed out, Kirito assumed the same was happening elsewhere.

"Right now, you're probably all wondering 'Why'? Why would I Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing. I have already achieved my goal. I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal environment. And now, the preparations are complete. This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

One would think that once Akihiko's speech finished, he would merely disappear. However a gunshot, of all things, rung out and the words Immortal Object appeared on Akihiko. The stunned crowd turned to the cloaked man who had fired the shot. The blade in his hand was not the standard; in fact it looked to be more of a gun than a sword. The figure pulled the trigger again and another shot erupted from the barrel. Three, Four, Five, the shots continued to be fired at Akihoko until the only sound was the clicking of an empty barrel. The man lowered his weapon and finally he spoke.

"23 shots, 15 boar tusks to 1 bullet, boar tusks have a 45% chance of dropping. Tell me Akihiko, how many boars did I kill?" The question was met with stunned silence. Some stared at the man with horror and some others with interest. Akihiko answered after a minute.

"766, that is what the calculations work out to." 766? Whispers spread like wildfire, the game had only been open for 4 hours. Kirito was no genius but basic division was not below him. The cloaked man killed 3 boars per minute, averaging a boar every 20 seconds.

"You're waiting on floor one hundred right?" The cloaked man asked. Akihiko had no time to answer as the man continued. "Give me a year, two tops and I will bring you down."

His declaration was followed by silence, only to be broken by the game master. Akihiko laughed. Whether out of enjoyment, delusions, or simply pity, Akihiko laughed at the cloaked man's statement.

"I look forward to it. I wish you all the best of luck" With that he disappeared and the world shifted back to normal. Kirito wasn't sure who screamed first, but seconds later chaos filled the plaza as thousands of people began to panic. In the middle of the pandemonium, Kirito made his decision and dragged Klein to the edge of the crowd into an alley. Kirito explained to Klein the dangers of staying in the Town of Beginnings. Even though the monsters would not run out the quests could only be taken a certain amount of times. Special events and items would disappear forever once the maximum had been reached. So, Kirito offered to help Klein. He offered to help him through the game. Kirito's heart dropped when Klein refused. He had others waiting for him back in the plaza. With a final goodbye, Klein re-entered the frenzy of shouting players. Kirito had no choice; he turned and fled from the town. The sun was setting by then filling the world with a bloody crimson. He was alone again, a solo player.

Which was why he was surprised when he found someone else was already outside the town. The same cloaked man before, his blade shinning in the afternoon sun. A slight gust of wind swept through and the hood flew from the man's head. Kirito couldn't help but stare. A scar ran diagonally across the man's face. His expression was stern, but his face showed no sign of depression or despair.

"The next town has the, kill the insect queen quest, correct?" Kirito was so surprised by the man's question that he stutters his response.

"Ye-yeah, it's in the next town. How did you know?"

"I was a beta tester." The man's reply is short and precise. With that the cloaked man walks forward intent on leaving Kirito behind.

"Wait-" Kirito calls out but his words lodge in this throat. What is he supposed to say?

The brown cloaked man stops for a moment waiting for Kirito to continue. Seeing this Kirito is able to force the words out.

"Can you really beat him? In a year, no less?" The silence lasts for a minute before the man answers.

"That's up to the players themselves. If they can get over their despair, then we have a chance. If not…this game could last well beyond five, maybe even ten years."

Those words send a chill down Kirito's spine. Ten years? What would happen to his sister? What would happen to him? He is drawn from his thoughts as the man turns away intent on leaving. Kirito calls out again trying to stop him, but to his annoyance the man does not stop. Instead he calls back to Kirito.

"I don't have time to talk; we can discuss things if you can keep up." With that the man picks up his pace, going from a slow walk to quick jog. Kirito moves to match his pace and soon they are sprinting down the road. Nearby wolves are attracted to their presence and charge the duo, but they are dispatched quickly. One would think that fighting these enemies would be done in silence, all possible concentration focused on fighting but these two were far from quiet. Enemies of this threat level were easy to deal with and as such they talked between one another as they moved towards the next town.

"What's your name?" Kirito realized this question was long overdue, but it was a common practice to ask.

"Squall," came the man's reply as he dispatched another wolf. The beast shattered into blue shards and the reward window appeared before Squall. He did not spare the screen a glance, and closed it as quickly as it appeared. "Your name?"

"Kirito," Kirito responded as he used his sonic leap sword skill to eliminate another enemy. "Why do you have to get to the next town so quickly?"

Squall guarded a wolf's charge before responding. "You know that each quest can only be given out a certain amount of times, right? I need to make sure that I am among that number." He finishes out his statement with a grunt and slashes the wolf along its side. It whimpers before it dissolves into a blue mess.

"Why do you need the "kill the insect queen" quest anyway? The reward is only 3000 col and some exp. Nothing remotely rare or valuable." Kirito counters as they continue along the dirt road.

"Let me ask you a question. Say you have two groups one of beta testers, who have experience with the game, and a group of completely new members. Which group has a better chance of survival against a boss?"

The answer is painfully clear. "The beta testers of course." Kirito responds. Squall nods his agreement and continues.

"So, what gives the 50,000 people a better chance of beating this game and escaping? The beta testers or the newer members?"

Kirito responds the same. "The beta testers." Where was Squall going with this?

"With the limited amount of quests, wouldn't it be more beneficial for the beta testers to level up quickly?"

The question sends a jab through Kirito. Squall's reasoning is flawless. For the best chance of survival, not only for himself but for everyone trapped in the game, the more experience players should monopolize on what they know and clear the way for the other players. This however leaves the new players stranded without anyone to guide them.

"You said you needed the help of the other players to clear the game. How do you plan to do that when you are ignoring the needs of all the new players?" Squall is silent for a moment before answering.

"If you want to go back and help the stranded 49,758 players back in the town of beginnings, be my guest. Some would be grateful while others would resent you. I am taking the most optimal route for everyone's survival."

"But won't they hate you for it?" Kirito asked. "Won't people resent you for leaving them in the Town of Beginnings while you harvested all the quests and items for yourself?" The conversation between the two died as a heavy wave of wolves attacked them. Kirito almost believed that Squall had ignored his question until Squall spoke.

"Whatever, if they can't see what I am doing to help them then their opinion doesn't matter." The horde of wolves finally slain, the duo had a brief respite. Kirito's breath came in pants while Squall's was calm and even. The minutes passed by and soon the sound of respawning wolves reached their ears. Squall sighed and readied his weapon.

"Time is up, are you still coming?" Kirito watched in fascination as Squall slashed a wolf and before it could counter attack pulled the trigger. The wolf was sent sprawling back, hitting the ground before becoming a shower of blue data.

"Yeah, let's move."

Even though he had agreed, Kirito hesitated slightly, as Squall began to walk away. He shook himself out of his trance though. Kirito wasn't sure who Squall was, but it would definitely be an advantage to be his ally.


End file.
